Oriental choreographer Osserman to be featured at Chapel Hill show

Published: Wednesday, July 23, 2014 at 01:53 PM.

Wendy Osserman, a successful New York choreographer and dancer who has a home in Oriental, will be featured in a September arts event in Chapel Hill.

It will feature the first-time collaboration of the mother-daughter team of Osserman and Liz Magic Laser.

“From North Carolina to South Korea,” commissioned by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s art department and Carolina Performing Arts, will combine the multimedia performance art of Laser with the choreography of Osserman.

The show will examine the studied gestures of politicians and actual events shown on the news. In addition to footage culled from the Internet, the performance will have excerpts from an interactive event live-streamed from Carolina Performing Arts to the Nam June Paik Art Center in Gyeonggi-do, Republic of Korea, on Sept. 12.

Performances will be Sept. 13 and 14 at Memorial Hall, Carolina Performing Arts Center at UNC.

Tickets are on sale for $25 and $10 for students. Purchase tickets online at carolinaperformingarts.org or call 919-843-3333.

Focusing on internet news, Laser and Osserman will look at the effect that posturing and emotional display have on the public’s perception.

Wendy Osserman, a successful New York choreographer and dancer who has a home in Oriental, will be featured in a September arts event in Chapel Hill.

It will feature the first-time collaboration of the mother-daughter team of Osserman and Liz Magic Laser.

“From North Carolina to South Korea,” commissioned by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s art department and Carolina Performing Arts, will combine the multimedia performance art of Laser with the choreography of Osserman.

The show will examine the studied gestures of politicians and actual events shown on the news. In addition to footage culled from the Internet, the performance will have excerpts from an interactive event live-streamed from Carolina Performing Arts to the Nam June Paik Art Center in Gyeonggi-do, Republic of Korea, on Sept. 12.

Performances will be Sept. 13 and 14 at Memorial Hall, Carolina Performing Arts Center at UNC.

Tickets are on sale for $25 and $10 for students. Purchase tickets online at carolinaperformingarts.org or call 919-843-3333.

Focusing on internet news, Laser and Osserman will look at the effect that posturing and emotional display have on the public’s perception.

This performance piece employs live video feeds with green-screen effects, repurposing the techniques of news production in order to represent an embodied reception of the news.

New York City dancer Cori Kresge will join a cast of North Carolina performers. The development of this piece is taking place, in part, at UNC through a residency hosted by the art department.

Laser’s videos and performances intervene in semi-public spaces such as bank vestibules, movie theaters and newsrooms, and have involved collaborations with actors, surgeons, political strategists and motorcycle gang members.

Laser is a visual artist based in Brooklyn, N.Y.

Osserman is a choreographer based in New York City and Oriental. She studied many dance forms including modern, flamenco, African and jazz. Osserman started her own company in 1976 after performing as a soloist with a number of renowned choreographers.

She is active in many Oriental community arts functions, including the popular Dragon runs.